Electrostatic trapping of ammonia molecules

摘要: The ability to cool and slow atoms with light for subsequent trapping1,2,3 allows investigations of the properties interactions trapped in unprecedented detail. By contrast, complex structure molecules prohibits this type manipulation, but magnetic trapping calcium hydride thermalized ultra-cold buffer gas4 optical caesium dimers5 generated from have been reported. However, these methods depend on target being paramagnetic or able form through association amenable laser cooling6,7,8, respectively, thus restricting range species that can be studied. Here we describe slowing an adiabatically cooled beam deuterated ammonia by time-varying inhomogeneous electric fields9,10 loading into electrostatic trap. We are trap state-selected a density 106 cm-3 volume 0.25 cm3 at temperatures below 0.35 K. observe pronounced oscillations caused rapid switching fields during Our findings illustrate polar efficiently trapped, providing opportunity study collisions collective quantum effects wide molecular systems11,12,13,14.